This invention pertains generally to the testing art and, more particularly, to a novel testing system ideally suited for use in combination with a pitot-static tube of an aircraft.
pitot-static (pressure) tube is positioned in the forward external portion of an aircraft, such as at the leading edge of a wing or at the nose of the fuselage. The pitot-static tube comprises, in essence, a tube having a pitot pressure passageway and at least one static pressure passageway. The pitot pressure passageway at one end faces directly into the flowing stream of air in which the aircraft is flying (i.e., is downstream of the air flow and is facing upstream), and at the other end is connected to air pressure-sensitive instruments (e.g., an airspeed indicator). The static pressure passageway at one end is in the laminar flow of the stream of air in which the aircraft is flying, and at the other end is connected to other types of air pressure-sensitive instruments (such as altimeters, rate of climb indicators, and the like). It is to be noted that, in the more advanced types of modern aircraft, the pitot-static tube includes more than one static pressure passageway, i.e., usually two such passageways. The second static pressure passageway at one end also is in the laminar flow of the stream of air, and at the other end is connected to still other types of air pressure-sensitive instruments (such as, for example, a cabin pressure indicator).
It is fair and accurate to say that prior art pitot-static tube testers amd testing systems are bulky, expensive to buy, costly to maintain, and difficult and time-consuming to use, particularly because the inlets of the pitot pressure passageways and the inlets of the static pressure passageways must be precisely aligned with the openings (i.e., the outlets) in the tester to insure flow of air from the tester outlets to the tube inlets. This necessary feat becomes even more time-consuming and frustrating when the tester outlets-to-pitot-static tube inlets alignment must be made in the blind, either because of the structure of the tester which structurally prevents visual alignment, or because of the darkness of the environment in which this precise alignment is being attempted (e.g., in darkness, or in a poorly lighted portion of a hanger, or the like). To all of the foregoing problems incurred with the use of prior art testers is now added the economic problem of the great cost of obtaining a replacement component of the typical multi-component prior art tester. It is not unusual in these inflationary times that the cost of a replacement component exceeds the original cost of the entire tester kit. Additionally, the needed replacement component may not be readily available, so that prior art testers and tester kits, on the whole, are difficult to maintain in serviceable condition.